Slipping Into Darkness
by Karli Garwin Winchester
Summary: All my life, all I ever wanted was to be loved. I found someone who loved me but he left me. I found someone else who says he loves me, but he's my cousin's enemy. God this blows.
1. Slipping Into Darkness

**I know, another story. Stick to one Karli. lol. I've had this idea in my head for a long ass while now and finally decided to get it up and see what you guys think. **

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I hate it when people call me spoiled. They call me a stuck up rich girl because I don't normally talk to people. It's not like that at all really, I just like keeping to myself. And it's not like I asked to be spoiled; my parents buy me what they think a 'proper girl' should have. Truth is, all I need is my iPod and a notebook because those are the only two things I care about; music and writing.

My parents don't put too much pressure on me. Actually, they don't put any pressure on me at all. They give me my space and for the most part, they could care less if I actually existed. I guess that is actually kind of the problem.

"_Hi dad." I said, sitting down at the dinner table a few years ago. The only response I received from him was a grunt. "Hi mom." I tried instead. All I received from her was a nod that was barely noticeable._

"_Here you are Ms. Salvatore." The cook said as she placed my dinner in front of me._

"_Thank you Laura." I smiled up at her. She smiled down at me sadly before leaving. Laura and Jessie, the maid, all saw how unhappy I was here. I overheard them talking once about how unlucky I was to have two parents who pretty much ignored my existence, just handed me clothes and left me alone. _

"_The Cadens are throwing a dinner party next week." My Mother said, no emotion in her voice._

"_What do those good for nothing snobs want with us?" My father asked grumpily._

"_Who knows? They are tacky people." My mother told him. "And their daughter, she's a tramp." _

"_Kayla is really nice." I spoke up. She was one of the only people I ever actually talked to._

"_She does look like a street walker, doesn't she." My father said, completely ignoring me. _

"_She's really nice." I said again._

"_She'll probably get pregnant before she finishes her schooling." My mother continued._

"_A few times." My father added._

"_I'm going to my room." I said as I got up out of my chair and retreated to my bedroom._

I guess I shouldn't complain, I mean, most of the student population at Salem Academy would kill to have the freedom that I have. Only, it isn't freedom, it's a curse. My parents act like they never wanted me, and I'm sure that they didn't. They only had me because every important family needs one child.

Unfortunately, I had the "pleasure" of being Rachael Salvatore, eighteen year old daughter of Mitchell and Clarissa Salvatore. In money, I was rich but in love, I was poorer than poor. My parents didn't love me, the little friends that I did have hated me. Hell, the only person who ever came close to loving me left me.

"_Damon, you jerk." I yelled with a laugh as my boyfriend Damon Evans wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me down to the grass with him. Damon just laughed at me as I turned myself onto my back to look up at him._

"_Sorry Rach." Damon said with a smirk._

"_This is so not funny you butt faced miscreant." I said, sticking my tongue out at him. Ever since I met Damon, I opened up a bit more and I was actually happy._

"_Butt faced miscreant?" Damon asked with an amused tone._

"_Yes, butt faced miscreant." I told him._

"_You hurt me by using such harsh words." Damon said, mock hurt on his face._

"_Tough." Damon looked down at me mischievously before tickling my sides. I squeaked in surprise as I thrashed around, trying to get away from his fingers._

"_Damon, stop it." I squeaked, trying to get end the torture._

"_Don't wanna." Damon said with an innocent smile as he continued on tickling me._

"_I-I can't breathe." I choked out, laughing uncontrollably._

"_Tough." Damon said, mocking me._

"_P-P-Please." I begged. Damon caved and ended the torture as I just laid beneath him and regained my breath. _

"_Spoil my fun." Damon said with a pout._

"_I can think of something more fun." I said with a smirk. Damon's expression matched mine as his lips descended upon mine in a soft kiss. I loved how his kisses always made me feel so much better, like I'm flying. When Damon pulled away, I made a small whine which he smirked at._

"_Rach, you know that I can't resist that sound." Damon told me. I smirked and whined again. Damon closed his eyes and gave a noise that was a mix between a growl and a moan. I couldn't help but giggle at what I could do to this boy that I loved. _

"_Maybe we should go somewhere else." Damon told me. "My house?"_

"_Yeah, lets go." I nodded. Damon stood up and held his hands out to help me up. Once I was up, He took my hand in his and we walked away from the park we were just at and toward his house. As we started crossing the deserted street, Damon twirled me in a circle, causing me to laugh and smile. We stopped in the middle of the street for a second but that was just enough time for a drunk driver to not notice us. Damon's eyes widened as he pushed me to the left, causing me to fall to the ground. I heard a yell, the screech of tires, a loud bang and then a grunt. When I looked up, the car came to a complete stop and the windshield was broken. I felt fear rise as I stood up and walked over to the other side of the car where I saw Damon's still body laying._

"_Damon!" I yelled, running over to him and dropping down to my knees beside him. Damon had cuts all along his face and his leg was at an awkward angle._

"_Rach." Damon said, his voice barely above a whisper. _

"_Damon." I said softly, tears falling silently._

"_Hey, don't cry." Damon said, awkwardly taking my hand in his. _

"_I love you Damon." I cried._

"_Don't do that." Damon said. "I'm gonna be just fine."_

"_Promise?" I asked._

"_Promise." Damon nodded. I heard an ambulance in the distance but felt Damon's grip on my hand loosen and I watched as his eyes closed._

"_No, Damon. You just promised me. Wake up." I cried, shaking him lightly. I felt someone wrap their arms around my body and pull me away._

"_Let me go!" I yelled, trying to fight them._

"_We need room to work on him." The paramedic told me. I nodded and allowed him to pull me away while the other two worked on Damon. A few minutes passed before they both shook their heads. _

"_No. No don't do that!" I yelled as I broke away from the other paramedic and rushed over to Damon. "He's fine. He promised he'd be fine."_

"_I'm sorry." Was all the paramedic said as I cried. _

Well, Damon didn't plan on leaving me. It was all so sudden. one second he was there beside me laughing and then next, he's six feet under; leaving me in this cold, passionless world all alone. He promised he would be fine, he promised that he wouldn't leave me.

But I guess I'm not all alone, I do have one more person who really does love me. Now he's the only one who does. My cousin.

_I walked off the plane and into the big airport of Ipswich, looking for my cousin. After Damon, I couldn't stay at home in that empty house with my emotionless parents. When I got home that night, they barely noticed that I was back. The next day when they actually noticed something was wrong, I told them that Damon had been killed. They didn't even know who he was or that I had a boyfriend. After that, I knew I had to get out. I was eighteen so that meant I didn't have to live with them anymore. I decided instead to live with my cousin. _

_I searched around the arrival area, looking for him when I spotted him standing a few feet away. I smiled sadly and walked over to him. He smiled down at me._

"_Hey Rachy." He said, pulling me into a hug. "I'm sorry."_

"_Thanks Aaron." I mumbled, a tear sliding down my cheek. "I miss him so much."_

"_We should get you home." Aaron told me, kissing the top of my head. "The dorms aren't opening up till next week."_

"_Alright." I sighed, pulling away. Aaron put his arm around my shoulders and carried my bags out to the car. He helped me into his Volvo and drove back to his house._

Aaron's always been there for me, the more that I think about it, I was always aware that he always loved me. We're close enough in age, only separated by a month, give or take a few hours. Everytime he's with me, it's more like we're twins rather than cousins. Since we were little we were always close and told each other everything. I told him about the loneliness before and after Damon, he told me how much he hated the girl he was with, Kira. I asked why he never broke up with her and he said that it was because they were expected to be together. He said if he could, he would get with this other girl, Kate. But besides the face that Aaron was taken, so was Kate.

Since I first came out to Ipswich to visit Aaron, he always complained about these four kids who acted like they were so much cooler because they were descendents of the four families who colonized Ipswich. I saw them from a distance and noticed that they did seem to act like they were important, but they also seemed to be really nice. Of course I wouldn't tell Aaron that, he was like my big brother. If he hated them, then I hated them. Aaron only has one rule while I finish my senior year in Ipswich; Stay away from the Sons of Ipswich.

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**So what do you think? Good? Bad? Awesomely awesome?? Let me know. **


	2. Meeting the Sons

**Love the support man. I seriously love all of you guys. lol. Anyway, he's chapter 2. I'm not sure if I'm gonna put Sarah in the story because I honestly don't really like her. If I do put her in though, she'll prolly briefly be mentioned. She won't be a big part.**

** And as promised, she will not be with Reid, even though he is smexi as hell. :)**

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There was a party at the dells the night that everyone moved back into the dorms, just two days before classes started. After I moved into my new room in the dorms, one floor below Aaron's floor, I got changed into a pair of jeans a black t-shirt, and a black hoodie. I had planned to just have a comfortable night in but Aaron insisted that I go with him and Kira to the dells. Just as I was putting on my shoes, Kira burst into my room.

"Hurry your ass up, Aaron told me to get you so I'm getting you." Kira said in that annoying voice of hers.

"Alright, calm your ass down then." I said grumpily.

"Watch yourself Salvatore, Aaron's cousin or not, I can make your experience here in Ipswich a horrible one." Kira said in a dangerous voice.

"Yeah, and I can make Aaron dump your sleazy ass so I suggest you be very nice to me." I said in a sweet tone before walking past her and down the stairs, making my way out of the dorm building. I found Aaron waiting out front, leaning against his Volvo.

"You're girlfriend's a bitch." I told him as I stopped in front of him.

"What else is new?" Aaron said in a bored tone. "What did she do now?"

"Threatened to make my stay horrible." I told him as I rolled my eyes. "It's already horrible just seeing her."

"Rachy." Aaron started.

"Hey, she's your girlfriend so I'll play nice as long as she does." I told him. He smiled and pulled me into a hug.

"I'll talk to her." Aaron promised.

"Can we get going already?" Kira asked, coming up behind us.

"Yeah." Aaron said letting go of me. I got into the back of the car while Kira and Aaron sat up front. I stared out the window the entire drive, trying to get my mind off of Damon. Since leaving Salem and coming to Ipswich, it was a little easier considering none of the places in Ipswich reminded me of him, but it was still hard, considering that in two weeks it would've been our two year anniversary. Aaron knew that, I figured that was why he wanted to get me out so I could try and forget about Damon; maybe meet one of Aaron's friends.

Aaron stopped the car far enough away from the dells so that it wouldn't get damaged by the kids arriving and that it was still close enough to run to when the police broke it up like they usually did. I got out and started walking with Aaron and Kira down to the party; there was already a fire going and there was music playing. I saw a lot of different people dancing around the fire and frowned. I shouldn't be here. I should be back in my dorm room, reading a book and listening to music.

"Baby, can you go get me a drink." Kira asked, giving Aaron puppy dog eyes.

"No problem. Rach, you want one?" Aaron asked, turning to me.

"No, I'm good." I told him. He nodded and disappeared in the opposite direction. I turned to continue walking when Kira grabbed onto my arm. I turned around to glare at her, tugging my arm free.

"Don't touch me." I said, my voice low and dangerous.

"Why don't you be a good little girl and give us some space." Kira said in a fake sweet tone.

"Alright, just keep your diseases to yourself." I told her before turning around and leaving, laughing to myself. I could feel Kira's eyes boring into the back of my head, probably wishing she could kill me with that look. I walked around, not sure of who exactly it was safe to talk to; I didn't know exactly who had a beef with my cousin and who knew that I was Aaron Abbot's baby cousin.

"Hey." I turned to look at a girl with dark brown hair and mocha skin. "I'm Kate Tunney." The girl that Aaron was pining over.

"Rachael Salvatore." I told her, shaking her hand.

"You must be new here." Kate said.

"How'd you guess?" I asked.

"You're kinda walking around like a lost puppy." Kate answered with a small laugh. I gave a nervous laugh of my own.

"Yeah, I was here with my cousin but his girlfriend was being a royal bitch so I ditched them." I told her.

"Sounds like fun." Kate said. "Just stick with me and I'll make sure you get to know the good people." Kate showed me around, introducing me to a few random people. Apparently none of them knew whose cousin I was and I was just fine with that for now; I didn't want them to judge me by their hatred for Aaron. Hey, if they liked me enough, maybe I could change their perception of him.

"They're here." Kate whispered, looking off to our left. I looked up and saw four boys coming toward us.

"The sons?" I asked.

"Yeah." Kate nodded. They came closer to us and I watched as Kate laughed herself into one of the sons arms. No wonder Aaron hated them, one of them had the girl he liked.

"Guys." Kate said, taking a step away from the boy she had just been kissing. "This is Rachael Salvatore, she's new here." She told them. "Rachael this is Pogue Parry, Tyler Simms, Reid…"

"Garwin." The blonde cut her off, smirking down at me. "Reid Garwin." He took my right hand in his and kissed the back of it. "Good evening."

"Good evening." I replied back with a small blush.

"You know, Rachael was my grandmother's name." Reid told me. That just lost him cute points. "You kinda remind me of…"

"Caleb Danvers." The last son introduced himself, interrupting Reid. "And you don't bring my grandmother to mind at all."

"Good." I gave a nervous laugh. I looked up into Caleb's warm brown eyes and bit my lip. They were such a deep contrast to Damon's jade green eyes but there was something about them that made me melt.

"So where did you transfer from?" Caleb asked me.

"Salem Academy." I told him.

"Why'd you decide to attend Spenser?" He asked again.

"Didn't really like it up there." I answered. "Decided I needed a change of scenery, you know."

"Yeah, I know." Caleb said. "I feel like that every time I'm hanging around Reid." We both laughed at that.

"Hey." Reid complained from behind Caleb. That made us laugh even more.

"What's going on here?" Aaron asked, coming up to stand between Caleb and me.

"Don't worry about it Aaron." Caleb said annoyed. "It's none of your business."

"Actually, it is my business." Aaron told him. Kira came to stand behind Aaron and his friend Matthew came to stand beside him.

"I don't see how it is." Reid said, coming up beside Caleb.

"Aaron, don't start anything." I told him.

"Rachael, what have I told you." Aaron said, turning to me. "What was the only rule I set."

"I was just talking alright." I told him.

"What was the rule." Aaron said, taking hold of my arm.

"Let her go." Caleb and Reid both yelled at the same time.

"Aaron, stop!" I yelled, pulling my arm back. "You told me I should come out here and meet people. That's what I did."

"By breaking…" Aaron started.

"Your stupid rule, I know!" I finished for him.

"What are we missing?" Tyler asked calmly. Aaron turned away from me and instead set his sights on Caleb.

"Stay the hell away from my cousin." Aaron practically growled. "If you know what's good for you." He then pushed Caleb who stumbled back. Reid moved to punch Aaron but another guy stepped in, putting himself between the sons and my cousin.

"Hey guys Duke just called." The DJ interrupted. "He says there's three cop cars headed down old Dell Road." Everyone broke up and Aaron pulled me away from the sons. As I looked back, I saw that Caleb was looking at me too, but Pogue kept trying to pull him away.

"Damnit Rachael, hurry up." Aaron said, still pulling me. His tone of voice scared me, I'd never seen Aaron like this before. I didn't say anything, just continued running back to the car. I jumped into the backseat and Aaron sped away from the dells, taking the back roads to the dorms. Kira was complaining about something in the front, but I just blocked it out and stared out the window. Why was Aaron being like this? It was like he didn't even really know me, like I was just some stranger.

When Aaron parked back at the dorms, I was the first one out of the car and in the dorms. I heard Aaron yelling after me but I didn't care, I wanted to get far away from him right now. I opened my door and threw my keys down onto the desk beside the door, locking it behind me. I sat down on my bed and pulled out my notebook when I heard knocking at my door.

"Rach, it's me. Open up." Aaron's voice called from the other side. Sighing, I stood up and walked over to the door. I unlocked it and cracked it open, looking up at Aaron.

"You rang?" I said sarcastically.

"Can I come in?" Aaron asked.

"Depends, are you the Aaron that I know or the prick I just met?" I asked bitterly.

"Rachy, I just wanna talk." Aaron said. I sighed and opened the door more, allowing Aaron to walk into my room. Once he was in, I closed the door again.

"So." I started, turning to look at him. "You wanna tell me what the hell that was earlier?"

"They're not good people Rach." Aaron told me. "I know that you must be really upset after what happened, but getting with one of the sons isn't going to make things any better."

"All I was doing was talking Aaron." I told him. "I'm not interested in any of them." Well the last part was a lie, but he didn't have to know that.

"I don't want you anywhere around them." Aaron told me. "I want you to be safe."

"Alright Aar." I nodded.

"I think that Matt liked you though." Aaron said with a smile. "And I really think that you would like Colin."

"Goodnight Aar." I said, pushing Aaron out the door. I locked it again and decided to get some sleep. I changed into my pajamas and laid down in my bed. The last thing I saw before falling asleep were those warm chocolate eyes.

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**Ooooooh, what's gonna happen next?? You don't know but I DO!! lol. Send love. **


	3. Weirdness and Nicky's

The next day, I woke up with a start. I was having the most intense dream and had been woken up by those warm brown eyes looking into mine. I looked around and found that I was alone in my room. I didn't have a roommate because my parents had paid a lot of get me out of there house and into this school.

Tiredly, I got out of bed and decided to go take a shower. I grabbed my towel and a pair of sweats and walked out of my dorm, down the hall to the bathrooms. It was still pretty early so mostly no one was up which I was happy about; after last night, I was sure everyone knew that I was Aaron's little cousin and I didn't know how people would react to that, especially after the scene he had caused last night. I took a long shower, enjoying the warmness of the water against my cold skin before. When I figured that I resembled a prune enough, I decided it was time for me to get out of the shower. I quickly dried myself off and changed into the sweats. On my way back to my room, I found that people were now awake and whispering to themselves as I passed by. I tried to ignore it but I couldn't help hearing parts of the conversations.

_"…Aaron's cousin."_

_"She looks too nice to be related to that."_

_"…She must be a bitch too."_

_"…I heard she's here because she killed some chick."_

_"No, it was some guy."_ my body went cold hearing this. They were talking about Damon. I quickly bolted into my room and threw the towels into a basket and landed face first onto my bed. There were rumors that I had killed Damon. How could people think that? Did they even know how much that boy meant to me? He was the one thing that brought me out of my shell, that kept me going. My heard felt like a whirlwind was going through it; there were so many different emotions. I jumped when I heard a shatter and looked over to where my glass candle holder now lay shattered on the floor. I slowly got up and walked over to where it lay now and where it had been sitting before. The shelf had looked sturdy enough so I just figured that I didn't put it on there all the way and it had just fallen. There was a knock at my door and I cautiously made my way toward the door, wondering if it was one of those jerks saying stuff about how I ended up here. When I opened the door, though, I found Kate waiting on the other side nervously.

"Hey Rachael." Kate said with a small smile.

"Hi Kate." I said confused. Didn't Kate know who I was now? Didn't she hate me like everyone else probably did.

"Are you doing anything today?" She asked. "I was gonna go into town with my roommate but she's like PMSing or something."

"Uh, sure." I said unsure. "I just need to get changed."

"Oh, okay." Kate said, giving a nod. "I'll wait out here."

"Alright." I said, closing the door and walking over to my closet. I pulled out a pair of black jeans and a From First to Last t-shirt, quickly slipping them on and then slipping on my black Fallens. I grabbed my wallet and my cell before opening the door again to find Kate waiting against the wall beside my door.

"Ready?" Kate asked, pushing herself off the wall.

"Yeah." I nodded as I locked my door and together we made our way out of the dorms and into the parking lot where there was a boy with brown hair and greenish blue eyes leaning against a 2008 Audi S4.

"Rachael." Kate said, looking over at me as we stopped in front of the kid. "This is Chase Collins. He just transferred here too."

"Pleasure to meet you." Chase said, taking my hand and kissing the back of it, much like Reid had the night before.

"It's a pleasure to meet you too." I said with a small blush.

"So shall we be off?" Chase asked.

"Sure." Kate nodded as we both got into his car. I sat in the back, not feeling very comfortable with being in the car with two strangers. I stared out the window as we drove through Ipswich; I always loved being here as a child. Aaron and I would run through the woods playing tag and hide and seek.

We stopped outside the small general store and got out of the car and headed for the store.

"So what do you need to get exactly?" I asked.

"I figured I'd stock up on some junk food." Kate said. "I need to make sure to lock it up so psycho Sarah doesn't steal it." I couldn't help but laugh.

"I should probably stock up on some stuff too." I said. Kate and I walked through the aisles, Chase tagging along behind us as we picked out chips and cookies that we could each gain ten pounds from. We joked a lot and I was happy that she never once brought up last night. She was quickly becoming my best friend here. Chase disappeared as I paid for my stuff so Kate and I decided to wait for him at the front of the store since he was driving us home.

"Hey Caleb." Kate said looking to her left. I turned to find Caleb walking up behind us.

"Hey Kate." Caleb said with a cute smile. When he turned my way, I blushed and looked down. "What are you guys doing here?"

"Just picking up stuff for our rooms." Kate said. "Sarah was supposed to come with but I'm starting to think she's not all right in the head."

"Sorry to hear that Kate." Caleb said. When I spared a look up, I saw that he was looking down at me.

"Boo." I jumped slightly and looked up to see Chase standing there in funky sunglasses.

"You scared me." Kate said with a small laugh as she hit his arm. Chase and Caleb exchanged greetings and I continued looking down.

"I was gonna see if Pogue wanted to catch that new Brad Pitt flick with me." Kate told us. "Who else wants to go?"

"I will." Chase told her.

"Okay." Kate said with a smile.

"I can't. I have to run errands for my mom, you know." Caleb said.

"I already saw it." I told them. I don't know why I said it but something in my mind told me to say it.

"You want to run errands?" Caleb asked me. My mind was screaming no but I couldn't help the yes that escaped past my lips.

"Alright, lets go." Kate, Caleb, Chase, and I walked out of the store, Kate and Chase heading for Chase's car while I walked over to Caleb's mustang. I put my junk food into the back and sat upfront beside him. I buckled myself in and Caleb took off down the road. I recognized the direction that we were going; it was in the direction of the old colony houses. It was always so beautiful out here, but after a while, Aaron hated coming out here.

"So you're Aaron's cousin?" Caleb asked out of nowhere. I sighed and looked down at my hands that were in my lap.

"Yeah. He's always been like my big brother." I said.

"And you knew about his reputation and his standing with us?" He went on.

"Yeah, I knew he didn't like you guys. But Kate came up to me and I didn't know that she was friends with you." I explained. It was silent for about two minutes before he spoke up again.

"So there are a lot of rumors going around the dorms…" Caleb started.

"Of course." I sighed again. "Well what exactly do you want to know?"

"Why did you come here?" Caleb said. I knew I told him most of the truth yesterday but I decided there was no harm in telling him all of it.

"I did need a change of scenery." I told him. "There was a guy up there, Damon."

"Did he break up with you?" Caleb asked.

"He died." tears were welling up behind my eyes and some of them spilled out, running down my cheeks. "We were going back to his place and as we were crossing the street, a drunk driver sped toward us. H-He pushed me out of the way and was hit head on." My hands were shaking uncontrollably in my lap as I went on. "He told me he wasn't going to leave me and he lied. He said that he was going to be fine and he lied!"

"Rachael." Caleb said softly.

"After I went home that night, my parents didn't even acknowledge me." I went on, ignoring Caleb. I was now lost in the memories. "And the next day when I went downstairs, they actually noticed something was wrong. They asked what it was and I told them. I said 'Mom, dad. Damon was killed last night.' you know what they said? 'Who's Damon?'! They didn't even know that I had a boyfriend!" I yelled. I felt that the car had come to a stop and continued on. "I tried staying there but everywhere I went, I saw him. Then when my parents completely ignored me at home, I decided I couldn't stay anymore. I told them I wanted to visit my cousin and spend the school year with him and they sent me off without a second thought."

"Rachael." Caleb said again.

"They didn't care at all. They didn't know about Damon and when I told them, they could care less. They went back to ignoring me!" I was so angry now, I felt like I was going to explode. "What kind of parents would act like that toward their ONLY child?!" There was a crack in the sky as lightning struck a tree and a branch cracked off, landing a few feet in front of us. We both jumped and I looked to see that we were at one of the colony houses.

"What was that?" I asked shakily.

"Lightning." Caleb said. "That's weird though because I didn't hear about rain today."

"What are we doing here?" I asked, deciding to change the subject. This was the second weird thing to happen to me today.

"This is the Danvers colony house." Caleb said. "The groundkeeper still lives here and I had to run a medial errand for him." Caleb got out of the car and as he stood, there was a gunshot. "Gorman, it's me. It's okay." Caleb yelled. He then turned to me. "He doesn't see very well."

"Ya think. He could've killed you." I said back.

"Who's that with you?" Gorman yelled.

"Just a friend." Caleb yelled back and turned to me. "I'll be right back." Caleb walked away and into the old colony house, leaving me alone in the mustang. It felt weird being out here alone, I didn't like it. It felt like there was someone watching me and that just freaked me out. I wiped the tears away and dried my face as I waited for Caleb. I saw Caleb come back out of the colony house and join me back in the car.

"You alright Rachael?" Caleb asked.

"I'm good." I nodded, forcing a small smile.

"So do you wanna shower or change first?" Caleb asked as he started up the car again.

"Before what?" I asked, confused.

"We're gonna go to Nicky's." Caleb told me with a small smile. His eyes were so comforting and warm that I couldn't help but nod. Caleb drove me back to the dorms and I grabbed my food out of the back and got out of the car. Caleb told me he'd be back in half an hour and to meet him in front of the building. I guess he didn't want to risk going to my room incase Aaron had someone watching my room. I walked up to my room and put my food away before returning to my closet. I searched through it and decided on a pair of faded blue jeans, a emerald green tank top, and my favorite black hoodie in case it got cold. I grabbed my key and put it into my pocket along with a few dollars and looked at my phone. I had a few minutes to get downstairs before Caleb picked me up. I turned off my light and decided to head down and wait for him. Just as I walked outside, Caleb pulled up. He opened the door from the inside, I'm sure he would've gotten out but he didn't want to risk having Aaron's friends report back to him that Caleb had picked me up. I slid into the car and buckled myself up as Caleb pulled away, heading for Nicky's.

"You look great Rachael." Caleb told me as he looked over at me with that perfect smile. I blushed as I looked him over. He was wearing black jeans and a white wife beater. He looked over at me again and must've noticed that I was checking him out because I saw pink lightly tinge his cheeks.

"You look pretty good yourself Caleb." I told him, adding to his blush. "So has Nicky's changed in the last five or so years?" I had been at Nicky's the last time I was out here five years ago with Aaron.

"No, Nicky's is still Nicky's. He doesn't like change." I gave a small laugh at that. Caleb parked outside of the small hangout and led me inside. When we walked in, he led me over to the tables and I saw that Kate and Chase were already sitting there.

"Hey." I said as I took a seat across from Kate. "So did you guys like the movie?"

"It was pretty lame." Chase shrugged.

"Are you kidding? It was awesome." Kate said, lightly hitting his arm.

"It was a chick flick." Chase told her. "Of course you thought it was awesome."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Kate asked, acting offended. I could tell that she liked him, I felt bad for her boyfriend.

"Do you want anything?" Caleb asked me.

"Just a coke." I told him.

"I haven't seen you eat anything today." Caleb said.

"I'm not hungry, really." I promised him. Truth was, I was starving but I felt a little weird being here and having him buy me food.

"I'll be right back." Caleb told me. I nodded and turned back to Kate and Chase.

"So did you have fun with Caleb?" Kate asked me with a small smile.

"He's really nice." I told her. It was true, Caleb was nice.

"He is really great." Kate agreed. "He's one of those all around good guys. Hard to find those."

"Are you trying to hook us up Kate?" I asked with a small smile.

"So what if I am? That boy needs a girl in his life and you're perfect for him." Kate said, making me smile more. "And plus, psycho Sarah likes him and you are such a better match than she is."

"Thanks Kate." I couldn't help but laugh at that. When Caleb came back, he placed a coke in front of me along with a thing of fries.

"Caleb, really, I'm fine." I told him.

"No, you are not gonna be one of those anorexic chicks." Caleb told me as he poked my stomach. I couldn't help but laugh as it tickled. "You're too beautiful to turn into one of those sickly looking girls." I blushed slightly when he called me beautiful.

"Hey baby." I looked up and found that Pogue had joined the group, giving Kate a small kiss.

"Sorry I couldn't make it to the movie, I had to get my bike fixed." Pogue told her.

"That's alright, chase kept me company." Kate told him.

"I just bet he did." Pogue said in a jealous voice before leaving to get food.

"Let me guess, he's one of those jealous types." I said as I took a bite from one of my fries.

"Yeah, but I love him." Kate said.

"Foosball?" Chase asked Caleb.

"Sure." They both got up and moved over to the foosball table beside our table.

"So what do you know about Caleb?" I asked Kate.

"So you're really interested?" Kate asked with a smile.

"Information please." I said.

"He's a great guy. His father died last year and after that, his mom became a bit of an alcoholic. Instead of staying in the dorms and partying with us, he stays at home to take care of her." Kate explained.

"Wow." I muttered, looking over at him as he continued playing against Chase. "That's sweet."

"Yeah. He doesn't like talking about his dad that much though." Kate told me. "He was hospital bound for months before he actually died."

"That's sad." I said, looking down.

"Yeah but Caleb's doing really good." Kate said. "He's smartest in our class, Harvard bound. It seems like everything's gonna be good."

"Well then that's really good." I nodded. Continued to watch the boys play when I heard the song change to Dance Floor Anthem by Good Charlotte.

"I love this song." I said standing up and walking over to where Caleb, Pogue, and Chase were all looking at me.

"Hey." I said with a smirk.

"Hey." Caleb replied with his own smirk. I took his hand and led him over to the dance floor. I don't know what came over me really, for the first time in a long time, I felt completely at ease as I danced with Caleb close to me. We both swayed in time with the music, perfectly in sync with one another. I heard a crash and turned in time to see my cousin and Reid pushing one another roughly.

"Oh great." I muttered under my breath.

"It's Reid and Tyler." Caleb said as Pogue approached.

"And Aar." I added as I followed them out.

"Maybe you should stay here." Caleb told me.

"No, I need to make sure he doesn't do anything stupid." I said as I followed him.

"Really Rachael." Caleb said as he walked out the back door that all the guys just exited.

"What's the problem?" Caleb asked as he walked out.

"None of your damn business." Aaron answered.

"Aaron here bet me that I couldn't make a combo shot and…" Reid started with a small laugh. "I did."

"Aaron, didn't I ever tell you that you shouldn't gamble?" I asked as I walked out to join the boys.

"Rachael, what are you doing here?" Aaron asked, surprised by my appearance.

"I was bored at the dorms." I told him. "Got here just in time to see you act like an idiot."

"Rachael, get out of here." Aaron said, glaring at Caleb. "You don't want to see what's gonna happen next."

"Break it up." Nicky said as he stood in the doorway holding a bat.

"Whatever you say Nicky." Aaron nodded. Nicky left and Aaron walked past Caleb, bumping him roughly. I saw him mutter something to Caleb but I couldn't make it out.

"I'm taking you back now Rachael." Aaron told me as he took hold of my arm.

"I got myself here." I said as I pulled my arm away. "I can get my own ride back."

"Rachael, don't start." Aaron said under his breath. "I'm taking you back now."

"No." I said angrily. "I'm getting my own ride back." Aaron just glared before storming past me with his two friends. Caleb and the other sons looked at me surprised. "I-I think I'm gonna go grab my hoodie. It's kinda cold out here." I told them as I went back into Nicky's. I found that Kate and Chase were still sitting at the table. I grabbed my hoodie and slid it on before taking a seat beside Kate.

"What happened?" Kate asked me.

"I guess Aar bet Reid that Reid couldn't make a combo shot and he did and Aaron wouldn't pay." I shrugged. "My cuz just doesn't know when to admit defeat.

"Sounds like it." Chase agreed.

"Where are the guys?" Kate asked.

"Still out back. I'm guessing Caleb is yelling at Reid or something because he looked upset." I told her.

"I kinda feel bad for him." Kate said.

"Why?" I asked.

"Well ever since Caleb's dad died, Caleb's been fighting with Reid a lot more." Kate explained. "I'm not sure why either, it just happens."

"That sucks." I said, not sure what to say.

"Hey, you ready to go?" Caleb asked as he approached us. When I looked up at him, he looked like he was worn out.

"Sure." I nodded as I stood up. I said goodbye to Chase and Kate before turning around and walking out the front with Caleb. He took my hand in his and I felt myself calm down a little. He opened the car door for me and when I sat down, he closed it before jogging over to the other side and getting in himself. He started up the mustang and pulled away from Nicky's. As we drove toward the dorms, it was quiet outside the car as well as inside. After yelling at Aaron, I was upset; all he wanted was to make sure that I didn't get hurt.

When we pulled up to the dorms, I sat in the car, looking down at my hands.

"You alright Rachael?" Caleb asked me.

"I just feel bad." I told him, looking up. "I mean, everyone says that Aaron's a prick, but they don't see the part of Aaron I see. He's the only one in my entire family who cares about me and I just snapped on him."

"This will all blow over by classes tomorrow." Caleb told me. "If he really cares about you, he'll just let it go."

"I know." I muttered. "I just wish that he could be cool about this whole me you thing."

"Exactly what kind of me you thing?" Caleb asked. I bit the inside of my cheek and kicked myself mentally.

"Us being friends." I said. "I mean, it's my choice, not his."

"He'll except it sooner or later." Caleb promised. "Not like he has much of a choice because I am not letting you get away from me that easily." I blushed at what he said.

"I should probably head up." I told him. "I'll see you in class tomorrow."

"Alright. Goodnight." Caleb said warmly. I loved how his little words always comforted me.

"Night." I said as I got out of the car and walked into the dorms. I heard him pull away as I walked inside and up the stairs to my floor. I walked into my room and threw my keys onto my desk again. I pulled out my flannel black pajama bottoms and a black long sleeved shirt, changing into them and laying down in bed. It was almost midnight and I was now aware of how exhausted I was. When I closed my eyes, I was met by the warm brown ones that belonged to Caleb. My dream Caleb was smiling down at me, telling me that everything would be okay and that nothing would ever get between us. I smiled at the thought but soon the eyes changed color and I was looking into jade green eyes that belonged to Damon.

"_How could you Rach?" _I instantly felt guilty for allowing myself to feel happy with Caleb. How could I be happy with him when my first love was dead because of me. I started crying and within minutes I had cried myself into a restless sleep.


	4. Rain and Kisses

The next morning, I woke up more tired than I had been the night before. All through the night, I had been woken up by Damon's voice in my ear, yelling at me for forgetting him. I would yell back that I wasn't forgetting him but he would yell back. I was thankful that I didn't have a roommate otherwise they probably would've kicked my ass for waking them up. I pushed myself out of bed and walked over to my closet where my new Spenser uniform was hanging in all it's ugly glory. I didn't understand why no school could have a halfway decent uniform to wear. As I finished slipping it on, my phone went off from my nightstand. I walked over to it and found that I had a new text. As I flipped it open, I saw it was from Caleb. When I opened the message, I saw Caleb smiling at me with those warm brown eyes and under his picture were the words _'rise and shine sleeping beauty.' _

I heard Damon's voice in my ear again and snapped the phone closed, slipping it into my blazer pocket. I grabbed my black messenger bag and put it over my shoulder as I walked out of my room and down the stairs. I expected to see Aaron somewhere around but found that his car was not in the parking lot anymore. Either he was still mad at me or Kira had bugged him to leave me.

"Need a ride?" I jumped to find Chase standing behind me.

"That would be great, thanks." I said, giving him a small smile. He led me back over to his Audi and opened the door for me.

"Such a gentleman." I told him, giving a weak laugh. He smiled and closed the door for me before getting into his own seat and driving toward the school which was about a three minute drive.

"So you liking Ipswich?" Chase asked me.

"Yeah." I nodded. "I mean, I visited a lot as a child but actually living here and going to school is awesome." Chase gave a small laugh at my energy. For some reason right now I was hyper. "What about you?"

"It's pretty cool here." Chase agreed. "Lots of interesting people."

"Did you find any girls that you like?" I asked curiously.

"There are really nice girls out here." Chase told me as he parked in the school lot.

"Maybe I can help you get one." I told him as we walked inside the school.

"I don't need to be set up." Chase said. "Happened once before and I got matched with the drama queen bitch."

"Well don't worry, I won't hook you up with Kira or psycho Sarah." I promised him with a laugh. "Speaking of which, that bitch is petting my cousin like he's a dog." As I walked into the classroom, I noticed that Kira and Aaron were sitting together; Aaron had his head on his desk and Kira was playing with his hair.

"Rachael, over here." I looked up to find Kate calling me two rows behind Aaron. I nodded, said goodbye to Chase and walked over to her. "Thank god you got here."

"Why? What's wrong?" I asked worried as we both sat down.

"Psycho Sarah just walked in." Kate told me, looking at the door. The blonde girl looked around before going to sit two seats down from Chase.

"You really don't like her, do you?" I asked.

"There is seriously something wrong with her." Kate said rolling her eyes as we both laughed. The professor walked into the room and started talking about the books we would be studying this year.

"Yeah, Dreamcatcher was the shit." Reid said from the next row over. Everyone laughed and I could practically feel Aaron rolling his eyes even though I couldn't see it.

"Actually, I was thinking something along the lines of the shining." The professor told him. Reid just shrugged it off. Another student came in and handed the professor a pass.

"Mr. Danvers." he started, looking over at Caleb. "You're wanted in the Provost's office." I watched as Caleb stood up and walked out of the classroom. Before he walked out though, he looked up, met my eyes and smiled. I blushed and looked down and Kate nudged me with her elbow.

"He so likes you hun." Kate told me with a knowing smirk.

"Shut up Kate." I said putting my head down on my desk and listening to the teacher continue on for the rest of the class. Caleb didn't return and I was kind of upset by that. When the bell rang, I collected my things and made my way out of the classroom. Once I was out, I felt someone grab my arm and pull me away from the crowd of students.

"I saw the look he gave you." Aaron said, still holding onto me.

"He gave me a look, big deal." I said pulling my arm back. "People are allowed to look at other people."

"No." Aaron shook his head. "The sons are not allowed to look at you. You're my cousin."

"That doesn't make me your property Aaron." I told him angrily. "I hate Kira, that doesn't mean you're gonna stop seeing her."

"That is completely different." Aaron told me.

"How is it different Aaron?" I shot back.

"Because there's something wrong with them." Aaron told me. "I started noticing that there was something wrong around seventh, eighth grade."

"What to you mean?" I asked.

"How do you think Reid always beats me at pool?" Aaron asked.

"Oh you're so kidding me." I rolled my eyes and started to walk away. "You think there's something wrong because he's better at pool?!"

"Rachael, I'm serious." Aaron said, following after me.

"Go to class Aaron." I called after him as I walked into my Calculus class just as the bell rang. I took a seat in the very back and put my head down, unable to listen to the teacher go on and on about something I really didn't care about.

Once school was done for the day, I realized that I only had one class without Caleb in it, I had three without Aaron which was good because that meant in the classes that I didn't have Aaron in, I could talk to Caleb though today we really didn't talk. Everytime I wanted to, I heard Damon's voice in my ear. It was making me think that maybe I was going insane.

I decided to walk back to the dorms instead of getting a ride with anyone. It was a pretty nice day out, it wasn't sunny and it wasn't storming. It was gray and looked like it would rain soon, my perfect atmosphere. I didn't understand why people loved really sunny days, all that did to me was annoy me because I would get sun in my eyes. The walk was actually enjoyable and just as I walked into the building, it started to rain.

"Just made it." I muttered to myself as I trudged up the stairs and into my room. As I walked in, my phone started ringing. I pulled it out and saw Kate's name flash across the front screen.

"Hey Kate. What's up?" I asked tiredly as I closed my door and walked over to my closet, pulling out my comfy, worn jeans and a dark green t-shirt.

"Can I stay in your room tonight?" Kate asked. "Sarah's going on about something and I don't wanna get butchered in my sleep."

"Sure." I said, giving a small laugh. "Come on up whenever."

"Thanks Rach. I'll be there soon." I hung up the phone and tossed it onto my nightstand before laying down on my bed and opening my bag; I figured that I should try and get some homework out of the way for now. I pulled out my Chemistry book and started looking through it, working on the problems that Professor Johnson had assigned us. He seemed like a grade A prick and according to Tyler, I was right. There was a knock at my door, I figured it was Kate.

"It's open." I yelled. A second later, Kate walked in.

"Thanks for letting me stay." Kate said as she threw her stuff onto the spare bed.

"No prob. Not like my roommate will mind, seeing as I don't have one." We both laughed as Kate laid down on the other bed.

"What are you doing?" Kate asked me.

"Chem homework." I told her.

"Seriously? You're doing homework the first night back?" Kate asked me.

"Well I don't have anything else to do." I told her.

"How about you go out with Caleb?" Kate suggested. "I know he's not doing anything tonight."

"_I thought you loved me." _That voice that was now haunting me.

"Not tonight." I told her. "Maybe another time."

"I need to tell you something Rachael." Kate said, looking at me seriously. I closed my Chemistry book and turned to look at her. "He's never really had a girlfriend. I mean, he's gone on dates but he tends to stay away from anything serious. And he wants to start something serious with you. He's been bugging Pogue about it who in turn is bugging me about it."

"Kate…" I started.

"I'm not trying to push you, I'm just saying that he really does like you and want to get to know you, you just won't let him." Kate said.

"I'm sorry my boyfriend of two years died last month, alright." I snapped.

"Rachael, I'm sorry." Kate told me. "I didn't mean…"

"I think I need to go clear my head." I told Kate as I got out of bed and grabbed my Bullet for My Valentine hoodie off of my desk chair. "Don't make the place a mess, alright." I walked out of the dorm and out into the now rainy darkness. I walked away from the dorms and into the direction of the old colony houses. I knew it was a long walk but I didn't know where else to go. And there was a bridge over there that I loved, it always calmed me down. I pulled my iPod out of my Hoodie pocket and turned it on, stringing my headphones under the hoodie so they wouldn't get wet. The song that started playing instantly was Hold the Door by Armor for Sleep. A few silent tears fell from my eyes as the song continued on. I kept up my pace and found myself at the small stone bridge an hour later. The song had long since changed and was now All Over You by Spill Canvas. I sat down on the edge to rest and watched as the water from the river passed me by.

I felt a hand on my shoulder and jumped slightly, slipping on the now wet bridge and heading down for the water. My left hand grabbed onto the side of the bridge but I could feel that I was going to fall soon.

"Rachael." I looked up to see the person that had scared me was Caleb. "Rachael, give me your other hand."

"I'm trying." I called up as I raised my right hand. Caleb took it in his and grabbed my left just as it slipped on the smooth, wet rock. Caleb started to pull me up but I felt my hands slip out of his. I gave a small yell as I started going down but miraculously, Caleb was able to grab my hands again and pull me up. We both collapsed on the bridge and I cried into his chest.

"Rachael, it's okay." Caleb promised me. I looked up at him and into those eyes that now looked completely black in this lighting.

"I almost fell Caleb." I cried. "I could've drowned at the speeds the current is flowing."

"I wouldn't let that happen." Caleb told me. "I would've jumped in after you and mocked you for slipping." That last part made me laugh.

"Oh thanks a lot." I said as we both laughed. I laid there for a few more minutes until my body could move on its own again, Caleb stayed with me.

"You think you're okay to move? At least to my car, otherwise I'm sure we'll both catch pneumonia. I laughed and nodded.

"I'm good." Caleb stood up and helped me up and over to his car. He gently helped me into the passenger seat and when I was secured, He got into the driver seat and drove back toward the dorms.

"How'd you find me?" I asked.

"I was dropping something else off for Gorman." Caleb told me. I gave him one of my 'tell the truth' looks and he sighed. "Kate said you took off and she was worried since it was raining so bad. I remembered that when I drove you out here, you seemed really calm, thought you might try walking up here."

"You're a very good guesser then." I told him as I shivered in the passenger seat. The rain had completely soaked through all of my clothes and was chilling me to the bone. I brought my legs up and wrapped my arms around them, trying to warm myself up. Caleb noticed and pulled black jacket out of the back and handed it to me. I wrapped it around myself and started to warm up some.

"Thanks Caleb." I said as my shivering started to die down. "For everything." He pulled up outside the dorms and I was too comfortable to move.

"So you think next time we go out, it could be, I dunno, a little less life threatening?" I couldn't help but laugh.

"Yeah, less life threatening." I told him. "Maybe sometime this weekend."

"What about Saturday?" Caleb asked.

"Saturday is perfect." I told him. Caleb and I looked at each other for what seemed like an eternity before Caleb leaned in and pressed his lips against mine. I was in shock for a few seconds before my body started responding to him. I pulled myself closer to him and kissed him with everything I had. Caleb and I seemed to be lost in the kiss and soon I found myself in the driver seat with him, straddling him. I didn't realize things were getting intense until I accidentally honked the horn. That sound caused the both of us to break apart.

"I-I-I…" I started unable to get it out.

"No, my fault." Caleb said. We stayed in the same position awkwardly until the sound of thunder cracked above us.

"I should go." I told him, moving to take his jacket off.

"No, keep it." Caleb said, making sure I keep it on. I flipped over to the passenger seat and got out of the car, giving him a small wave before heading into the building. I walked up to my dorm to find Aaron waiting on my bed, Kate and Pogue sitting on the spare.

"What are you doing here Aar?" I asked as I closed the door behind me.

"What are they doing here?" Aaron asked.

"Uh, Kate was scared her roommate was gonna skewer her so I said she could stay. I'm guessing Pogue is here because you're a prick and wouldn't leave my room." I looked over at Kate and saw I was right about the last one.

"Where were you? You're soaked." Aaron said, coming over to me and taking in my drenched appearance.

"I was upset, I decided to go for a walk." I explained. "Didn't know it was raining so bad."

"You should take a hot shower and change into something warm and go to bed." Aaron told me in the tone that I recognized as my Aaron.

"I'll be fine Aar." I told him.

"No go take a shower and go to bed." Aaron said.

"Weren't you like about to yell at me?" I asked.

"I'll talk to you tomorrow, shower and sleep." Aaron said sternly.

"Alright, I'm going." I said, pushing him out of my room.

"I'll be standing right here waiting for you to get your stuff." Aaron said. "I wanna make sure you're listening to me."

"Alright." I said, closing the door.

"Whoa, that was not Aaron." Pogue said.

"Yeah that was." I said as I grabbed my shower stuff and a pair of thick sweats. "That was my Aaron."

"Well can you have your Aaron around more often?" Kate asked.

"I'll try." I promised as I walked out of the room. Like Aaron said, he was waiting outside the door for me.

"Now go, warm up." Aaron said, pushing me toward the bathroom. "I'm not takin the fall for this if you get sick."

"Oh thanks for showing you care." I muttered rolling my eyes. "Now I kinda need to go in there myself."

"Alright. Warm up." Aaron kissed the top of my head and walked away as I walked into the bathroom and walked over to the farthest shower and turned it on as hot as it would go. I stripped out of my wet clothes and stood under the warm water that burned at first but soon felt relaxing. As I warmed up, my hand raised to my lips and I remembered the feeling of Caleb's lips against mine.

When the water started to run cold, I decided it was time for me to get out. I quickly dried off and threw my sweats on, warming up instantly. I walked back to my room finding that Pogue was gone and Kate was already in bed.

"Hey, about earlier…" Kate started.

"Don't worry about it." I told her. "I shouldn't have snapped. I'm good now."

"So I noticed you were wearing Caleb's jacket." Kate said with a smile as I crawled under the covers.

"Yeah, he found me." I told her. I figured I would leave out the whole "he saved me from drowning" part because I knew that she would probably go on and on about how cute and romantic it was. "We were in the rain and I was freezing so he gave me his jacket."

"So you think this will lead anywhere?" Kate asked me.

"Maybe." I told her before turning around and falling into a peaceful sleep.

* * *

**So this week has officially been the worst and best ever, confusing, huh. I mean, i found out the guy I like likes my best friend AGAIN and she thinks I'm 'too attached and obsessive' I'm like at the point where I don't want to write these cutsie chapters but I pretty much have to for you guys.**

**Leave reviews, they make me feel better.**


	5. Big Date

For the rest of the school week, I was sick. I felt really bad about staying out in the rain and keeping Caleb with me because he got sick too. When I talked to him about it, he said it was okay, he could've left if he wanted to but he didn't. As the week went by, I was scared that our date wasn't going to happen because it seemed like we were both getting worse but Saturday when I woke up, I felt one hundred and ten percent better. My phone went off two minutes after I woke up and it was a text from Caleb telling me to be ready in an hour, that he would pick me up. I practically jumped out of bed and ran to take a shower.

When I got back to my room, I put on my dark purple bra and panties and woke up Kate who had practically completely moved in with me now.

"What?" Kate mumbled into her pillow. "It's Saturday morning."

"Exactly and Caleb's picking me up in half an hour." Kate jumped out of bed and started going through both our clothes.

"Well what exactly are you trying to say to him?" Kate asked. "Although I'm sure what you're wearing under the clothes says it all." I blushed slightly and looked down.

"I want to say 'I really really like you'" I said.

"Well you're saying more than that here." Kate said making me blush more.

"Just help please." I pleaded.

"Alright." Kate went through both of our wardrobes before deciding on a pair of black jeans, black tank top and a dark purple lace fishnet top.

"He will love this." Kate promised as she threw the clothes at me.

"You sure Kate?" I asked, looking at it.

"Yes, now put it on." I rolled my eyes and slipped into the jeans, tank, and top.

"Kate, this looks awesome." I said as I looked myself over in the mirror.

"I told you." Kate smirked over at me. "Now let me get your make-up done." I sat down on the bed as Kate applied eye shadow, eyeliner, mascara, and other make-up, half of it I didn't really know. When she was finished, I barely recognized myself.

"Kate, I love you so much." I said, hugging her. "How did you do this?"

"I'm awesome like that." Kate said and we both laughed. My phone went off again and I walked over, seeing Caleb's name and picture flashing on the front.

"Yeah." I said, smiling.

"I'm outside." Caleb told me. We decided that it was better if he waited downstairs incase Aaron still had his friends watching who goes in and out of my room.

"Be right down." I shut the phone and put it in my pocket. "Do I still look okay?"

"You look hot." Kate told me, making me smile wider.

"I'll be back later." I told her, grabbing a jacket and walking downstairs and out of the dorms. I found Caleb leaning against his mustang.

"Hey." Caleb said, his smile widening.

"Hey." I replied, giving him a hug. We didn't kiss since Monday because of how intense it got in the few seconds.

"You look great." Caleb said as we pulled apart and he looked me over.

"Thanks." I blushed as I looked him over too. He was wearing black jeans and a black t-shirt. "You don't look so bad yourself."

"Thanks." Caleb replied, pink slightly tinting his cheeks.

"So where are we going?" I asked him as he opened my car door.

"It's a surprise." Caleb told me as he got in the car and drove away from the dorms.

"No, no surprises." I pleaded. "I really really really wanna know."

"Tough." Caleb said, giving a laugh as I pouted.

"Meanie head." I said, sitting back in my seat and crossing my arms over my chest.

"I am not a meanie head." Caleb said, giving a chuckle as he said it.

"Yes you are. You are now Mr. Caleb Meanie Head." I told him. I took out my phone and changed Caleb's name to just that and showed him. "See."

"That's not nice." Caleb said, pouting.

"Tough." I told him as I snapped a quick picture of him while he was laughing.

"Di..Did you just take a picture of me?" Caleb asked, looking from the road, over to me and then back to the road.

"And what if I did?" I asked. Caleb didn't respond and I laughed. When I looked over at him, I saw he had his phone out and was smirking.

"Did you just take a picture of me?" I asked him.

"So what if I did?" Caleb retaliated.

"Hey hey, that's my line." I told him. "Copyrighted by me meaning that you can't use it."

"But I just did." Caleb said.

"Well then you owe me one point five million dollars." I said with a satisfied smirk.

"Oh I think we could work out our own arrangement." Caleb said with a wink.

"Nope. One point five mil or I will take your butt to court mister." Caleb just looked at me with a pout. "I mean it buddy."

"You wouldn't really take me to court, would you?" Caleb asked.

"For one point five mil, you bet your butt I would." I said as seriously as I could. It didn't take long before we were both laughing. The car ride was full of jokes and laughter as we drove to our destination; Caleb still wouldn't tell me where we were going.

"We're almost there." Caleb said as he pulled off to the side of the road.

"Why are we stopping?" I asked. Caleb just held up a piece of black fabric. "Oh no, I don't do blindfolds."

"Please." Caleb asked, giving puppy dog eyes. "It's to make sure the surprise is really a surprise." I couldn't resist the puppy dog eyes, never could.

"Fine." Caleb's smile widened as I turned my head so he could tie the blindfold in the back. I turned to face the front and I could practically feel him smirk as he looked me over.

"Hey, keep your eyes in your head and drive." Caleb muttered something under his breath as he started driving again. "What was that? I missed it." Caleb didn't answer me, but I heard a soft chuckle. The rest of the way to the ride, I refused to talk to Caleb because of the blindfold but I could feel his eyes look over my body every once and a while. I couldn't help but smile at the thought. I felt the car come to a stop again and I heard the engine shut off. I moved my hand up to remove the blindfold but Caleb's hand covered mine.

"Not yet." Caleb said.

"No, I did not agree to be led around blindfolded." I protested.

"It's only for a little bit longer. I promise nothing will happen." I felt instantly calmed by his words and put my hands back in my lap. Caleb got out of the car and moved over to my side, helping me out. He stood behind me and wrapped his arms around my waist, leading me forward into a building that I didn't know but wished I did. I heard the sound of a big fan and started to get nervous.

"Caleb, I'm serious now. Where are we?" I asked, growing a little scared now. Caleb moved his hand up and undid the blindfold, letting it fall from my eyes. I had to blink a few times because the room was so bright after being blindfolded for about an hour. When I was able to see, I found that we were in a building with a big fan on the floor. Inside the little chamber, there was a person flipping as though he was floating.

"Oh my god." I muttered, watching as the fan was turned off and the guy gracefully fell back to earth. "Don't tell me we're doing that."

"We're doing that." Caleb told me.

"Didn't I already prove to you that I have no coordination?" I looked up at him with pleading eyes. "I don't wanna die in a wind tunnel."

"You won't die. I promise." Caleb told me as our instructor walked over. He introduced himself as Mark and told us how to do this safely. He then led us back to get changed in a special suit so we wouldn't get hurt. I walked out of the changing room pouting because I didn't like how I looked but Caleb just smiled.

"You look absolutely beautiful." He told me with a smile. I blushed and looked down.

"You two ready to go?" Mark asked.

"Yes we are." Caleb told him. I just groaned. Mark led us into the tunnel where there was another guy waiting. His name was Jason and he told me that he was there incase something happened to me and I fell. I smiled at him and thanked him for making sure I don't die from this. I stood in the middle of the wind tunnel with Caleb and waited for them to start it up. Once I heard the fans kick on, I closed my eyes as Caleb and I were raised into the air.

"Oh I don't like this." I muttered to myself.

"It'll be okay." Caleb yelled to be heard over the fan as he took my hand in his. I smiled up at him as we just floated there.

"I'm gonna try something." I told him as I released his hand and flipped backwards, smiling and laughing as I did. I looked over at Caleb and saw him smile at me before doing the same. We both continued flipping around for another hour until my stomach felt as turned around as I had been. They turned off the machine and I grabbed Caleb's hand as we descended down. Jason grabbed my hips, helping me steady myself.

"Thanks." I told him as Caleb and I made our way out of the wind tunnel. We changed out of the suits and Caleb led me out of the building and down the street.

"Where are we going?" I asked him, looking back at his mustang. "And why are we leaving your baby?"

"That car's not my baby." Caleb said with a smirk as he continued leading me down the street to a restaurant for lunch. The entire lunch, Caleb kept joking around, making me smile and laugh. I really liked how he made me feel, like the outside world didn't exist. Around two, Caleb led me out of the restaurant and back to his car.

"Where are we going now Cay?" I asked him as he took off.

"Cay?" Caleb asked, looking over at me.

"I shortened your name. Got a problem?" I asked.

"Not at all." Caleb said as he continued down the road.

"So where are we going?" I asked him.

"It's a s…"

"You say surprise and I will hurt you." I cut him off.

"Special secret." Caleb said instead, making me pout.

"You can't just tell me?" I asked.

"No, I can't." Caleb said with a laugh as I continued on pouting.

"Fine. But no blindfolds this time." I told him.

"Fine. We can use that later." Caleb said with a wink, making me blush.

"Is Mr. Golden Boy Danvers having dirty thoughts?" I asked, turning in my seat to look at him.

"Where did you hear that nickname?" He asked me.

"Reid. So answer the question." I told him.

"So what if I am?" Caleb countered.

"Mr. Danvers, I am shocked at what I am hearing." I said with a small laugh.

"Well Ms. Salvatore, be prepared to be shocked a lot more." Caleb told me as he continued driving, making me laugh more with each passing minute. When Caleb pulled into a parking lot and stopped the car, I looked at our next activity and smiled.

"Mini Golf Caleb?" I asked happily.

"Thought it might be fun." Caleb said as I jumped out of the car and pulled him with me toward the front. We got our clubs and balls and walked to the first hole.

"Ladies first." Caleb said. I put the ball on the ground and swung, getting a hole in one.

"Yay." I said with a smile and hugged Caleb.

"Good shot Rach." Caleb said. I went to go get my ball and came back as Caleb put his ball down and swung. He got close to a hole in one but the ball stopped right in front of the hole.

"Oh so close." I told him. He walked up to it and lightly tapped it, sinking it in two.

"Still not bad." Caleb shrugged as he got his ball and we walked to the second hole. We went through all eighteen holes like that. Caleb kept trying to distract me by tickling my sides as I was about to swing. In return, I would whisper naughty things in his ear which made him swing a lot harder than he intended to. A few times, he also made a sound that was a mix between a moan and a low growl which made me smirk.

After tallying the scores, we found that I beat Caleb by a lot which made me think that he let me win but I wasn't going to say anything. I just clapped and hugged Caleb, who hugged me tight.

"Where to now?" I asked as he led me back again to the mustang.

"It's a secret." Caleb said, annoying me again with the surprises. I really did like all the surprises but it was annoying not knowing where you're going.

"Can you give me a hint?" I asked.

"You'll like it." Caleb told me.

"That's not a hint. I like a lot of stuff." I told him.

"Well that's all your getting until we get there." I pouted for the billionth time today as Caleb smiled and continued on. He again pulled over onto the side of the road and pulled the blindfold on.

"Please." He said giving me puppy dog eyes. "This is the last time tonight unless you want to use it later on." I just laughed and nodded. I turned around so Caleb could put it on and tie it in the back before he started up again. I sat there anxiously, wanting to know what else Caleb had in store for me. Caleb stopped the car again and helped me out of the car like he had before. I could tell that we were walking on grass and I wondered what he has set up. Soon I could feel what felt like a bridge under my feet and Caleb wrapped his arms around me from behind and put his head on my shoulder. He slowly reached up and undid the blindfold before putting his hands back around my waist. I opened my eyes and was shocked at the sight in front of me. We were on a bridge above a lake and there were candles and dim lights around a circular table.

"Caleb." I said breathlessly. "It's beautiful."

"I knew you'd like it." Caleb said as he led me over to the table. He helped me into my seat and then took his own across from me. We sat there talking for a few minutes before a man came over to us with dinner.

"Caleb this is seriously sweet. I love it." I told him as we both started on dinner.

"I'm happy you like it." Caleb said as he reached across the table and gave my hand a light squeeze. We continued eating and he told me about his dad and I told him everything about me, everything about my parents and Damon. By the end of dinner, I had tears shining in my eyes and Caleb was sitting beside me with his arm around me.

"It was my fault." I told him. "I stopped in the middle of the street and he pushed me out of the way so I wouldn't get hit."

"It's not your fault Rachael." Caleb told me. "He did it because he didn't want you hurt."

"He should still be here." I said softly. "He should still be alive."

"Everything happens for a reason Rachael." Caleb said. "I mean, you don't always know the reason, but there is one."

"I guess so." I sighed and wiped the tears away.

"We should get back." Caleb said, looking down at his watch. "It's eleven thirty."

"We've been out all day." I said, stating the obvious.

"Yeah. Come on." Caleb helped me up and we walked back to the car. The ride was mostly silent as I stared out the car window. It started raining when we got back to the dorms and I really just wanted to stay in the car with him.

"Thanks for today Cay." I turned to him with a small smile. "It was really nice."

"I'm glad you enjoyed it." Caleb told me. We sat there for a little in silence before Caleb closed the gap between us and kissed me softly. Like before, everything got intense and soon I was again on Caleb's lap with his belt undone. When we broke apart, we were both panting and I felt my blush growing.

"Sorry. Sorry." I kept saying over and over.

"It's not your fault." Caleb told me. "I started it."

"Well I'm the one who's undoing your pants." I told him, blushing and looking away.

"Well you didn't get them all the way done so no harm done." Caleb said.

"Y-Yeah." I nodded. "I'll just go."

"Call you tomorrow?" Caleb asked.

"Yeah, tomorrow." I nodded as I got out of the car and ran into the dorms. I unlocked my door and walked in, finding Kate awake reading a book.

"About damn time." Kate said, making me laugh. "You've been keeping me here waiting all day."

"You stayed here all day?" I asked as I got changed out of my wet clothes and into a pair of shorts and a tank.

"No, I went with Pogue to Nicky's, but I've been bugging him about what Caleb's plans were for you." I rolled my eyes at Kate's confession. "Come on, tell me."

"He took me to one of those wind tunnel thingies where you kinda fly." I tried to explain.

"Sounds cute." Kate said.

"Then he took me to a little place for lunch. Then we went mini golfing and I'm sure he let me win." I continued.

"How adorable." Kate smirked. "Keep going."

"Then he led me to this little deserted place by a river for dinner, just the two of us and candle light." I told her.

"That is so super romantic." Kate was now sitting on the edge of the bed, wanting more information.

"Then we got to talking about serious stuff. He told me about his dad and I told him about my parents and Damon and then we decided to head back." I finished, laying down in bed.

"Sounds like you had a fun filled day." Kate told me.

"Yeah, I did." I told her, giving a small yawn. "Well it's like one so I'm going to bed."

"Night." She said, shutting off the light and turning over. I turned to face the wall and fell asleep with a small smile on my face.

* * *

**So what do ya think? Was it good? Bad? Horrible??**


	6. Cryptic Dream

On Wednesday, I was walking through the halls headed for my next class when I was pulled into an empty classroom.

"What the hell?" I asked, taking my arm back annoyed as Aaron looked down at me.

"Danvers is going to end up hurting you." Aaron told me.

"Oh come on Aar." I said rolling my eyes. "He's really nice."

"That's what he wants you to think." Aaron told me. "Truth is, he's going to hurt you and leave you all alone."

"I can take care of myself Aaron." I told him. "I'm a big girl and I don't need you protecting me like I'm five."

"What else am I supposed to do Rach?" Aaron asked me. "I'm your big cousin, I'm supposed to protect you."

"No, you're supposed to be there to support me, especially when I feel this strongly about someone." I told him.

"Not when I know he's no good." Aaron said, raising his voice.

"Will you stop with that?!" I yelled. I couldn't understand why Aaron couldn't just be happy for me. He was supposed to support my decisions always, he promised that when we were younger. Why couldn't he just let me be happy. We both jumped at the sound of something breaking and looked to see that one of the chairs had broken.

"What was that?" Aaron asked, sounding a little scared.

"I…I don't know." I said, backing away.

"Rachael, what's wrong?" Aaron asked me.

"I…I gotta go. Feeling sick." I said before running out of the room and out of the school. I didn't know why that kind of stuff kept happening to me, it started to scare me.

"Hey, what's wrong?" I jumped and turned around to face Chase who was looking down at me concerned.

"I'm just not feeling that great." I told him.

"Want me to take you to the infirmary?" Chase asked.

"No." I shook my head. I wasn't a hospital person, not after Damon.

"Then you want me to take you to your room?" Chase asked. I thought about if for a moment and nodded. I really didn't want to walk all the way back to the dorms anyway. Chase led me over to his car and helped me in.

"Aren't you going to get in trouble for ditching class?" I asked him as he drove to the dorms.

"Aren't you?" Chase shot back.

"Yeah well you're on the swim team. Can't you get like, benched or whatever for ditching class?" I asked.

"I'll talk to coach about it. Tell him it was important." Chase told me with a small smile.

"I don't want you to get in trouble though." I told him.

"It's fine Rachael." Chase assured me, giving my hand a light, comforting squeeze.

"Thanks Chase." I smiled as he parked outside the dorms and led me inside. "You know, I think I can make it to my room."

"Just making sure." Chase said. "I mean, you said you weren't feeling good and I wanna be sure you don't feint in the halls, especially with everyone in class."

"Thanks Chase." I smiled up at him. As we walked up the stairs, I felt myself become lightheaded and grabbed onto the railing to keep myself from falling down.

"Rachael, you okay?" Chase asked me.

"Just a dizzy spell." I told him. He wrapped his arm around my waist and helped me up the rest of the steps and down to the hall to my room. I started feeling dizzier and rested my head on his shoulder.

"Where's your key?" Chase asked me. I took it out of my pocket and handed it over to him. He opened the door for me and led me inside and over to my bed. Once I was laying down, I felt a little better.

"Thanks Chase." I said for what felt like the tenth time in the past five minutes.

"Don't mention it Rachael." Chase said, sitting beside me on the bed and smiling down. "Are you sure you don't want me to take you to the infirmary?"

"I'll be fine." I promised him. We continued looking at each other and Chase suddenly brushed my hair back, shocking me.

"You're so beautiful Rachael." Chase told me.

"Chase, that's sweet but I have…" I was cut off as Chase's lips descended upon mine. I wanted to fight back, push him away but I felt myself weakening as his kisses continued.

"Chase." I muttered, finally able to pull away. As I started up at him, my vision faded and I was asleep.

When I woke up, I noticed that Kate was sitting on her bed working on Literature homework.

"Morning Sleepy." Kate said with a small smile. "How you feelin hun?"

"Better." I said as I sat up. "What time is it?"

"Seven p.m." Kate answered. "Chase was here when I got back around three, said you weren't feeling good and he was waiting here for me to make sure you didn't need to go to the infirmary." Kate sighed, a smile still on her face. "He is so sweet."

"Yeah." I nodded, picking up my phone where it lay on my nightstand. I noticed that Caleb had tried calling me a few times during class and sent me a few texts too.

"He was worried." Kate told me. "He kept asking me where you were. Was going to ditch school but…"

"He has swim practice and I would kill him." I finished off.

"Wow you two really are getting close." Kate smirked.

"Shut up Kate." I said rolling my eyes as I dialed Caleb's number. As I did, there was a knock at the door and Pogue walked in.

"Kate, can I talk to you?" Pogue asked and turned to me. "Hey Rachael, you feeling better?"

"Yeah. I'll give you two privacy." I told him as I got up and walked out the door, my phone still attached to my ear as I waited for Caleb to answer.

"You okay?" Caleb asked once he picked up.

"Yeah, I just felt a little sick. Chase helped me back to the dorms." I explained. "Were you worried about me?"

"Uh, yeah." Caleb said, making me smile. "I mean, my girlfriend goes missing and no one knows where she is."

"Aw, you care." I couldn't help but smile.

"You're loving this aren't you?" Caleb asked.

"Just a little." I told him as I bumped into someone hurrying through the halls.

"I'm sorry." I looked up at Chase. "Hey, you feeling better?"

"Yeah." I told him. "Thanks for staying with me." There was something in the pit of my stomach, nagging me, trying to tell me something about Chase but I couldn't tell what it was.

"No problem. Glad you're feeling better." He brushed my hair back and gave a smirk before retreating up the stairs.

"You still there?" Caleb asked.

"Sorry, I bumped into Chase." I told him.

"I have to thank him for making sure you're okay." Caleb said mostly to himself. I opened my mouth to respond but I noticed Pogue storm past angrily.

"Pogue looks mad, I think he had a fight with Kate." I told him. "I think I should go make sure she's okay."

"Alright. See you tomorrow?" He asked.

"Yeah. Night." I hung up my phone and hurried back to my room, finding Kate with angry tears falling down her cheeks as she paced the room.

"I can't believe him. He's such a jerk." Kate said as she continued pacing.

"What did I miss?" I asked, throwing my phone onto my bed and walking over to her.

"He's jealous of Chase." She told me. "Thinks that I'm cheating on him."

"That's stupid." I told her. "Doesn't he see how much you love him?"

"Apparently not." Kate said angrily. "I just don't get how he can always do this to me and expect me to be fine!" Somewhere behind us, the glass on a picture frame shattered. We both jumped and turned to inspect it. On the shelf was a picture of Kate and Pogue together laughing.

"What was that?" Kate asked.

"Not sure." I was really scared now. That seemed to keep happening around me. But I wasn't scared or upset like the other times. Kate was. They stood in silence for a few minutes before Kate's ringing cell brought them back to the present. Kate slowly walked over to it and saw that it was Pogue.

"Great, now he's going to try and apologize." Kate said, silencing it. "I don't want to hear it tonight." She put her phone on her nightstand and started getting changed.

"You going to sleep so early?" I asked her.

"I'm exhausted." Kate told me as she finished changed and went to bed. I sighed and changed myself and climbed into bed.

_I was walking along the Spenser halls, looking for Caleb when I was pulled into a dark corner by Chase._

"_Damnit, you scared the hell out of me." I accused, hitting him lightly. He didn't answer, just leaned down and kissed me. I pushed him away instantly and wiped my mouth. "What the hell was that?!" When Chase looked up, his eyes were black._

"_I can't allow you and Caleb to be together." Chase told me. _

"_What are you talking about?" I asked, backing away._

"_You don't even know who you are, do you?" Chase taunted, backing me into the wall again._

"_I'm Rachael Salvatore." I stuttered._

"_Try the Water Guardian. Caleb's guardian." I was confused by Chase's words._

"_I'm what?" _

* * *

**Yeah, the ending kinda sucked I know but I was trying to hurry this along so I could start with updating A Beautiful Lie and Looking for Light in Darkness which I will probably change the name of. **

**And I will also be writing up Fading, my new covenant story which is a second generation story**

**Reviews are love :)**


	7. Dreams and explanations

Ever since I had that dream with Chase calling me Caleb's guardian, I hadn't gotten much sleep. I had went to the library to find anything that might help me figure out what dream Chase had meant, saying I was his guardian. Guardian for what? The library had been a bust and I had just gotten weird looks from the librarian thinking I was probably just a high student.

On Friday afternoon, I was walking out of Spenser when Caleb approached me.

"Hey Rachael." He said with a weak smile.

"Are you okay?" I asked him. I had heard that while in Swim practice he had hit his head.

"I'm fine." Caleb answered. "Have you seen Chase around?"

"No, why?" I asked.

"Just wondering." Caleb said dismissively.

"Do you want me to look for him for…"

"No." Caleb cut me off. I gave him a weird look at that. "I mean, I'll find him."

"Alright." I said suspiciously.

"So we still on for Fall fest tomorrow?" Caleb asked me.

"Your birthday? I wouldn't miss it." I said, leaning up and kissing him.

"I should get going." Caleb said. "I'll see you tonight?"

"Maybe. I'm kinda tired." I said, sniffling a yawn.

"You alright?" He asked me.

"Just bad dreams." I told him. "I just need to get some more sleep." I kissed him again before walking back to the dorms. It was a pretty nice afternoon so I decided against asking for a ride. It took fifteen minutes but once I got there, I headed up to my room and found a note from Kate on the door saying that she was in the infirmary because she wasn't feeling well and that she would be back soon. I walked into my room and walked over to my bed, finding a big leather book sitting there.

"Kate probably left it here." I said as I looked it over. The cover read 'Legends of Ipswich.' I curiously opened the book and started skimming through it. I found out that Caleb's family, along with the other sons' families had been around since the late sixteen hundreds, the times of the Salem Witch hunts. As I kept reading, I found that there had been a fifth family that had been killed during the Witch hunts. People had assumed that the other four families were witches too but after John Putnam was killed, the hunts suddenly ended.

"So what, Caleb's a witch?" I asked to myself. "That still doesn't help me with the guardian thing." My phone started ringing beside me, scaring me.

"Hello?" I answered.

"Ms. Salvatore, this is Mrs. Danes, the nurse up here in the Infirmary." Mrs. Danes answered. "You're Ms. Tunney's roommate, correct."

"Yeah, she moved in after her first roommate started acting psycho." I answered. "Is Kate alright?"

"Not really. Could you come down here please?" She asked.

"I'll be right there." I said as I hung up the phone and ran out the door. Something was wrong with my best friend, I had to make sure it wasn't bad.

The infirmary building was in between the school and the dorms, making it about a seven minute walk; with my springing speed, it took about five. I walked up to the main desk and asked for Kate. The nurse led me to her room, but wouldn't let me in.

"What's wrong with her?" I asked.

"She seems to be having a severe allergic reaction." Mrs. Danes told me. "Like she's been bitten by hundreds of spiders."

"Will she be okay?" I asked.

"Her fever has spiked from 100 to 102 since she got here." She told me. "We're transferring her to Ipswich General."

"But she's gonna be okay. I mean, the fever will go down and the bumps will go away?" I asked hopeful.

"Maybe." She sighed. I stayed up there by Kate's room until the ambulance came to take her to the hospital. Mrs. Danes gave me Kate's things and I followed the paramedics out to the ambulance. I decided to call Caleb so he could tell Pogue.

"Hey." he answered. "Can I call…" Caleb paused, I guess he could hear me crying. "what's wrong?"

"It's Kate." I told him. "They say it's like she's been bitten by hundreds of spiders. They're transferring her to the hospital. And I've been having weird dreams with Chase telling me stuff and I'm just really scared right now."

"Alright, I want you to go back to the dorms and wait for me, okay." Caleb said calmly.

"Alright." I said before hanging up. I wiped the tears away and decided to walk back to the dorms, taking my time. I started hearing noises, like someone was following me. I tried to remain calm as I walked into the dorm building and walked up the stairs to my room. I opened the door, put Kate's stuff on her desk and turned to close the door when I let out a small scream. Caleb was standing there in the doorway but I hadn't heard him approach.

"You scared me." I said as he walked in and closed the door. "What's wrong?"

"Have you heard from Pogue?" Caleb told me. He took a seat on Kate's bed and I sat down beside him.

"No, I thought you could get a hold of him." I told him as he took my hand in his. "I'm really scared Caleb. A lot of stuff keeps happening." There was another knock at the door. I got up and opened the door revealing Caleb. But Caleb was already in the room.

"Pogue's been in an accident." Caleb at the door told me. I turned to look at Caleb on the bed who just smirked as everything went black.

"_Where am I?" I asked myself as I looked around. It looked as though I was in a stone basement with books lining the walls and a big fire in the middle. _

"_The home of the Guardians." I jumped at the sound of the voice. I turned and found a girl who looked about my age with raven black hair and porcelain skin._

"_Okay, you might need to elaborate on that." I told her._

"_Just sit down." The woman told me. I took a seat and with a flick of her wrist, the woman pulled out one of the many books._

"_How did you do that?" I asked in shock._

"_You'll be able to do this soon, once you are able to control your magic." She told me._

"_What magic?" I asked._

"_All the guardians are born with magic." She told me as she opened the book and made it float inches away from me. "It usually takes a big event to unleash it, like losing a loved one."_

"_Damon." I whispered._

"_Once one guardian unleashes her magic, she can help the others unleash theirs, just by being near them." She continued on. "Like you have done to the Earth Guardian."_

"_Kate?" I asked, remembering that when Kate had been upset, the glass on the picture frame had broken. "What's with the whole elemental guardian thing?" I asked._

"_The sons of Ipswich have always stood for an element. Danvers' are Water because they are usually calm; Parrys are Earth because they are usually strong, the ones holding everything together; Garwins are Fire because they usually have a fiery temper and have a undying passion for whatever means most to them; and Simms' are Air because they are usually easy going and creative." She explained to me. "They each have a guardian that match them to help them with their powers, but since the witch trials, the Guardians have been lost. They could never find their counterparts." _

"_But now Kate and I found Pogue and Caleb." I stated._

"_Yes, you two have found them and soon the other two will find theirs." The woman smiled._

"_Well how will they know when they find them?" I asked. _

"_How Pogue knew to find Kate. And how Caleb knew to wait for you." The woman explained. "Reid and Tyler will both be meeting their Guardians soon."_

"_How soon is soon?" I asked._

"_I think it's time for you to get back." The woman said._

"_No, not yet damnit." I said but the scene soon faded away._

I woke up to find Caleb sitting beside me on the bed.

"What happened to the other you?" I asked him, looking around.

"There's only one me." Caleb told me with a soft smile.

"There were two." I told him.

"Just me." He told me. "Maybe you thought there were two when…"

"When what?" I asked.

"When I told you Pogue was in an accident." Caleb said. "You passed out right after that."

"Is he okay? Where is he?" I asked.

"The hospital." I jumped up and pulled him out of my room.

"We need to make sure he's okay." I told him. The ride to the hospital was silent, mostly because I was thinking about my dream. I had powers that I couldn't control, Kate had them too, and apparently those stories about the sons having magic was true too. When we got to the hospital, I felt sick to my stomach and decided to wait in the waiting room instead of going up to see Pogue. Caleb understood and walked upstairs to see his best friend while I sat in the chair and willed the sick feeling to go away. I felt the hair on the back of my neck stand up, like someone was watching me but when I turned, I was all alone. It was actually pretty eerie that there was no one else around.

"Hey, how you feeling?" Caleb asked when he came back down a few minutes later.

"Tell me what's going on Caleb." I said, looking him in the eye.

"I don't know what.." Caleb started.

"Don't lie." I told him sternly. "I can tell when you lie by now and besides, I had this little cryptic bird in my head telling me there's more to you and the others than cute looks and hot little cars." Caleb sighed and nodded.

"Just, not here." I nodded as he led me out to the car and drove to the Danvers' colony house.

"What are we doing back here?" I asked as he led me into the house and up to the attic. The old guy from before, Gorman, met us at the top of the stairs and looked at Caleb disapprovingly.

"Caleb, what are you doing?" He asked.

"It's okay Gorman." Caleb said. Gorman sighed and walked downstairs, leaving us alone. There was an old armchair near the fireplace and I could see that someone was sitting there.

"Cay." I said, taking his hand nervously. He gave it a calming squeeze as we walked forward. When I saw the seat's occupant, I was shocked. The man looked like he was like a hundred years old. I moved closer when suddenly, the man's eyes opened, causing me to jump back.

"Rachael, this is my father William Danvers the third." Caleb told me. I was confused, Kate told me his father had died. Caleb had told me his father had died. "He's forty four years old." I was shocked when I heard this, he didn't look forty four at all.

"Hi." William managed to choke out.

"Hi Mr. Danvers." I said, still a little nervous. He gave a small nod.

"Dad, this is Rachael Salvatore, my girlfriend." William gave a small smile at Caleb's declaration. His eyes then landed on me and he froze. "Dad?"

"Mr. Danvers?" I asked.

"Guardian." William said, looking at me and then at where Caleb's hand was holding onto mine tightly. I took a step back when he said that, how could he know?

"What are you talking about dad?" Caleb asked. "I thought that was a myth."

"Oh like you and your friends having those powers?" I shot back, shocked that I had said that. We said goodbye to William Danvers and left the house, deciding that it was time for both of us to talk. He drove me back to the bridge but instead of sitting up there, we sat down by the river.

"So do you wanna go first or should I?" I asked.

"Yes, my friends and I do have powers." Caleb told me. He explained to me the rules of the covenant, including the rule of Using. That explained why his father looked so old now, because he had gotten addicted to Using.

"So what about you? Guardian?" Caleb questioned.

"Well I'm sure you know more about it than I do." I started. "When I first got here, I found that when I got upset, weird things happened like things blew up. Then I had a dream a few days ago and Chase called me the Water Guardian, your Guardian. And then today after I saw the two yous, I had a dream and this woman told me about the guardians, that one is meant for every son, but after the Salem witch hunts, they kinda disappeared. But Pogue found Kate, the Earth Guardian and now you found me. According to her, Reid and Tyler will meet theirs soon." I summed up. "Oh, speaking of the two yous, wanna explain that one?" Caleb sighed.

"Chase is one of us." Caleb told me. "John Putnam's heir. He's using you against me."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"He wants me to will him my power." Caleb told me. "And even when I ascend, he's still too strong because he has his father's power."

"Then why don't you and Reid and Tyler and I gang up on him?" I asked.

"Because he wants to kill you, I'm not letting you anywhere near him." Caleb told me.

"But I'm _your _Guardian." I argued. "I'm supposed to guard you, not the other way around."

"I'm not going to risk your life or theirs." Caleb told me.

"Shouldn't it be my decision if I risk my life or not?" I asked him.

"No, not when it comes to _my _fight." Caleb told me. "I don't know what I'd do if you got hurt because of me."

"I'll be fine." I told him.

"Just please, stay with them while I fight?" Caleb pleaded. I sighed and nodded.

"I'll stay."

* * *

**So yeah, there's the next chapter. Don't even ask where I got the Guardian idea because I honestly don't know. I seriously was not gonna go in this direction with the story but after I thought up the Guardian thing, i was like "What the hell" so i hope that I can do it justice**

**A Beautiful Lie will hopefully be updated tonight or tomorrow afternoon because I am working on it now but I am going out soon for a few hours so I prolly wont be back till 10 or 11 and then i might be too tired to update.**


	8. Goodbye to Chase

The next day, I woke up in the spare room at Caleb's house. After our little talk, Caleb thought it safer if I stayed with him at his house. Tyler and Reid also stayed the night, figuring that it would be safer if we were all together incase Chase tried something. I walked out of the bedroom and down the stairs into the kitchen where everyone was nervously eating breakfast. I hopped onto the counter and took a bagel from a plate beside me. As I ate it, I noticed that Reid and Tyler were looking at me out of the corner of their eyes.

"You guys suck at being sneaky." I told them. They both blushed and look down. "Why you keep looking at me?"

"Well, we just never really saw a Guardian before." Tyler said.

"You saw Kate, didn't you?" I asked.

"That's completely different." Reid said.

"Yeah, we didn't know." Tyler piped up.

"So she was still a Guardian. I'm pretty sure she'll look exactly the same as she did before." I snapped. It went silent again as I finished eating my bagel. Caleb walked into the kitchen and gave me a small kiss on the cheek.

"Hey." He said in a calm voice, or at least as calm as he could muster.

"Hi." I said, giving him a weak smile.

"You sleep okay?" He asked.

"Pretty much, yeah." I lied. Truth was I kept having nightmares with Chase coming after me, killing Caleb and then pursuing after me. I could tell that Caleb knew I was lying but I didn't feel like admitting it, not with Reid and Tyler in the room.

"Liar." Caleb whispered in my ear as he grabbed a chocolate donut from behind me.

"So what's on today's agenda?" I asked them.

"Today we're just staying in here." Caleb started. "Then tonight we're all getting ready for Fall fest and you three will go and stay there." Caleb said that last part directly at me.

"Caleb, I know I said I'd stay but…" I started.

"You will stay there." Caleb said again.

"You are not my father." I told him. "I am your damn Guardian which means I'm supposed to be there for you!"

"I can't face him if I'm worried about you getting hurt." Caleb told me.

"Then don't worry about me. I can take care of myself." I argued.

"Not when you haven't even mastered your magic." Caleb said. I was starting to get angry at him treating me like I was two years old. I was eighteen god damn it, older than him. I should be yelling at him to stay home. Behind us, three glasses shattered on the counter. We all turned to look at it and I looked down.

"My point exactly." Caleb said.

"So that just means if Chase makes me mad, I'll blow him up." I tried to joke.

"You can't even control what you break. Ten to one says you'll shatter me." Caleb said, half joking, half serious.

"I wouldn't do that Cay." I said, even though I knew it was a possibility.

"See, you're thinking about it." Caleb said, pointing a finger at me. I just stuck my tongue out and crossed my arms over my chest.

"Good goin Caleb, you pissed off your Guardian." Reid said. "Don't expect her to save your ass now."

"Shut up Reid." Caleb and I both yelled. Reid and Tyler just laughed before bolting out of the kitchen, leaving us alone. Caleb sighed and turned to me again.

"Why can't you just be okay with this?" Caleb asked. "Why do you have to argue?"

"It's in the Salvatore blood." I said with a smirk. Caleb gave a small laugh and stood in front of me, trapping himself between my legs that were dangling off the counter.

"Just please listen to me when I beg you to stay with the guys." Caleb looked into my eyes, pleading with me. I sighed and finally caved.

"Fine." I muttered, unable to resist the look he was giving me.

"I just want you to be safe." Caleb said.

"But don't you think there's a reason Chase and I showed up here at the same time?" I asked. "I mean Guardians have been gone for centuries, they obviously weren't needed until now."

"I don't care." Caleb said. "You're staying where it's safe and that's final." I just pouted which made him smile. We stayed in that position for a few minutes, just looking into each other's eyes.

"Hey, you better not be getting busy on that counter." Reid yelled from the living room. "I do eat there occasionally."

"Shut up Reid." We both yelled and looked away. Caleb moved back an inch, enough for me to jump down from the counter and we walked into the living room where Reid and Tyler were watching tv.

"You guys didn't contaminate the counter, did you?" Reid asked. "Because if you did I hope that you…"

"Shut up!" We both yelled. The television crackled before blowing out. We all jumped back as a small fire started. Caleb's eyes went black and the fire died out.

"That was kickass." Tyler said with a smile.

"Yeah just please don't do that near me." Reid said backing away.

"Well next time don't piss us off." I told him. He just nodded. Caleb's eyes flashed black again and the tv looked good as new. "That is so cool, my own handy man." Reid and Tyler both rolled their eyes as Caleb and I took a seat on the couch. There wasn't really anything on tv so we just flipped channels every once in a while once we got bored with what was on. We stayed down there together until about five o'clock when I decided that I should get ready if I was going to Fall Fest.

I walked into the guest room where I had slept and found that my dress, shoes, and make-up were now sitting in there. I walked over to the small vanity table and sat down to put on my make up and work on my hair. My make up consisted of blue tints since my dress was a nice ice blue thin strapped dress. I left my hair down and straitened it so it cascaded down my back like a blonde waterfall. I also put some stuff in my hair so I had a few ice blue streaks that shown beautifully with my blonde hair. I looked everything over again and stood up to slip into my dress. It was floor length and flowed down to the floor softly. When I slipped on my icy silver heels, the dress slipped over them and as I walked it looked as though I were floating. I checked everything over once more and checked the clock on the wall. It read nine thirty. I decided that I took enough time getting ready and descended down the stairs. I heard Caleb talking to his mom but once he saw me, I saw him smile wide. In the corner, I saw Tyler and Reid both adjusting their collars.

"Wow." Caleb said as he came to meet me at the base of the stairs. I walked into the living room where they had all been talking.

"You look beautiful my dear." Evelyn Danvers said kindly.

"Thank you." I said with a small blush.

"You really do look like a Water Guardian." Tyler told me. I hadn't noticed at the time but I was wearing a lot of blue.

"Thanks Ty." I said as my blush increased slightly.

"Simply stunning." Reid added to my blush.

"Okay you can stop now before I become the Fire Guardian." I muttered.

"That's fine with me." Reid said with a wink. I looked down blushing while Caleb just gave a low possessive growl that I couldn't help but find cute coming from him.

"We should get going." Tyler said softly. We all nodded and walked out of the mansion and out to Tyler's Hummer which we would be taking to Fall Fest while Caleb took the Mustang to Putnam Barn.

"Please be careful." I begged as Tyler and Reid both got into the car.

"I will be." Caleb said, taking my hands in his and kissing my knuckles. "Please stay with the guys."

"Now I can't make any promises there." I said with a shrug, trying to lighten this depressing mood.

"You have to." Caleb said, looking into my eyes. "You need to promise me that you will stay put."

"Cay…" Truth is, I had planned to make an escape from the boys in the crowd of fall fest and steal Ty's Hummer to get to Putnam barn.

"Rach." Caleb said in the same tone.

"I won't leave their sight." I promised him. Caleb gave a weak smile and the pulled me into a kiss. Like always, things grew intense quickly and I found myself backed against the Hummer with Caleb's arms running down my sides.

"Hey!" Reid and Tyler both yelled.

"Not on my car!" Tyler yelled, causing us to break apart.

"We probably shouldn't do that in public ever." I told him.

"Probably not." Caleb agreed. I hugged him close before hopping into the Hummer behind Tyler.

"Keep an eye on her." He said sternly to Reid and Tyler. "If anything happens to her, so help me god…"

"We won't let her out of our sight." Tyler promised, cutting him off.

"And keep your hands to yourself Reid." Caleb added as an after thought.

"I can't promise nothing." Reid said with his usual cocky smirk but he gave Caleb a 'don't worry' look anyway. I waved goodbye to Caleb as Tyler pulled away from the mansion and drove toward Spencer. I sighed and leaned back, trying to remain calm.

"He's gonna be fine Rachael." Reid said, turning around in his seat so he was facing me. "He's the strongest out of all of us."

"I'm still scared. I mean, Chase is the strongest out of all of you." I didn't want to admit it but it was true. Chase was stronger. "I just don't get why we all couldn't just team up against him."

"Because Caleb is big brother." Tyler explained, looking at me through the rearview mirror. "He doesn't want any of us getting hurt and tells us to stay away. We listen to him and stay away."

"Even if he might get killed?" I asked. The others just went silent as Tyler parked in the Spencer parking lot and we walked up to the school. We walked around for a while, avoiding my cousin who didn't know what was going on. I saw Kira a few times looking around and I guessed either my cousin ditched her or told her to keep an eye out for me. Reid's phone started ringing and we decided to take a break so Reid could answer it.

"Hey man." Reid started. "No, there's no sign of him." Once Reid said that, I started feeling a little light headed.

"Hello Guardian." I heard whispered in my ear before everything went black.

"_Hello again Rachael." I jumped at the sound of the woman's voice. I turned to see the woman before with the Raven black here. "Didn't expect to see you so soon."_

"_Okay, what's going on?" I asked. "Last thing I remember, I was outside the school with Ty and Reid." _

"_Chase put you under a spell again." the woman told me. "Using Caleb's Guardian as leverage so Caleb will Will him his power."_

"_Damnit, I knew I should've just gone with." I swore angrily, kicking at nothing._

"_You and Caleb will be very strong together." The woman agreed. "Stronger than Chase could ever hope to be."_

"_I knew that but no one would listen to me." I muttered._

"_You need to get back to him." The woman told me. "Caleb has just ascended and he is stronger but he won't be for much longer."_

"_Alright, so how do I get out of this spell world thingy?" I asked. Everything soon started to lighten around me and I looked at the woman. _

_"Go and help your soul mate."_

"_Wait, what's your name anyway?" I asked. I had seen her a few times, I would like to know what to call her when I saw her again._

"_Isabeu." She answered as everything around me faded._

When I regained consciousness, I found that there were flames all around me and I also noticed that Chase and Caleb were no where in sight. I slowly stood, careful to avoid the flames as I made my way out of the burning barn. Outside, it had started raining and I found Caleb and Chase throwing balls of energy at each other.

"Hey!" I yelled. Chase whipped around and Caleb just stared at me from his position.

"Well, well, well, what do we have here?" Chase asked looking over at me.

"Rachael, get out of here!" Caleb yelled. "I can handle this!"

"I can't leave Caleb. I promised you that I wouldn't come and I didn't. I was brought here." I told him as I walked closer.

"Well then, join the party." Chase said with a laugh. "After I kill your Charge here, I can take your power as well."

"Nah, I think I'll keep mine, thanks." I told him. "And I don't think that you'll be able to kill Caleb."

"And why is that?" Chase asked.

"Because he has his Guardian here. You don't." I said with a smirk before disappearing and re-appearing at Caleb's side.

"How did you do that?" Caleb asked.

"Not a damn clue." I shook my head as Chase turned to face us.

"No matter. It'll be easier to kill you both right now." Chase said as he sent a ball of energy at us. I just held up my hand and it died in mid-air. There was a crack of lightning above us as Caleb formed another ball of energy. The lightning seemed to go into it as though it was giving it more power. Caleb held it in one hand and took my hand in his other. Chase started to run for us but as I concentrated, I felt power rushing through me and Caleb threw the ball at Chase who went sailing through the air and into the now fiery barn. He disappeared in an explosion and I found that I couldn't stand anymore and collapsed down against the wet leaves. Caleb picked me up and led me over to a truck and laid me down in the bed. When I looked up at him, I found that his eyes were completely black and he looked at me in shock.

"What's wrong?" I asked. "Am I all muddy?"

"Your eyes are completely white." Caleb told me. I couldn't see them myself and I had no strength to look in a mirror so I just decided to believe him. Caleb laid down next to me and put his jacket over both of us as it acted like a blanket, shielding us from the rain. This reminded me of two weeks earlier when I had almost drowned and Caleb had stayed with me until I could move.

"Cay." I spoke softly.

"Yeah?" Caleb asked, turning to look at me.

"I love you." I told him. He smiled and kissed my temple.

"I love you too."

* * *

**So Yeah, it didn't turn out the way I expected but I have the sudden urge to clean my room and if you know me, if I actually get the urge to clean, I must act on it before it passes otherwise it could be years before I get the urge again. lol**

**A Beautiful Lie should be updated either later tonight or tomorrow and my new story Fading will be up sometime this week.**


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